Kansas lawmakers to debate anti-fluoride proposal

Topeka  A Kansas House committee is considering a proposal to require cities and other local governments to warn consumers if they put fluoride in their water supplies.

The bill on the Health and Human Services Committee’s agenda Monday has been condemned by public health officials and the Kansas Dental Association. The federal Centers for Disease Control last year called fluoridation of water “one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.”

But the bill says fluoride is dangerous and that more studies of it are urgently needed. The bill would require local governments to tell consumers if it fluoridates water — and to warn that it might lower children’s IQs.

The bill stems from an active anti-fluoride movement in Wichita where fluoride is not added to the water.